JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 19, 2023) – Ballad Health and East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy are hosting the inaugural conference for the Center for Pharmacy Education, Advocacy and Outreach on May 8 at Ballad’s Bristol Regional Medical Center in Bristol, Tennessee. The event is aimed at pharmacists and pharmacy technicians and will focus primarily on the topics of substance use disorder (SUD) and the opioid epidemic. Continuing education credit is being offered for each presentation during the program.
Check in will take place between 8:30-9 a.m., with the conference starting at 9 a.m.
in the Monarch Auditorium. A free boxed lunch will be provided with an RSVP by April
28, 2023. Learn more and register: www.etsu.edu/pharmacy_conference.
The center was established by East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College
of Pharmacy and Ballad Health in May 2022 to improve the lives and health outcomes
of people in the Appalachian Highlands. The purpose of the annual conference is to
address the latest in research and solutions to health care challenges and collaborate
on professional development and continuing education offerings.
Speakers include the following:
William Cooke, MD, will speak on “Canary in the Coal Mine-Reinvesting in the Health and Prosperity
of America." Cooke is the author of the book “Canary in the Coal Mine: A Forgotten
Rural Community, a Hidden Epidemic, and a Lone Doctor Battling for the Life, Health,
and Soul of the People.” In addition to being the chief medical officer for Foundations
Family Medicine, a division of Well Care Community Health, Inc., he serves as the
medical director of the nonprofit community organization, Refresh Health; as the Medical
Director of the Scott Memorial Health hospitalist program; and as Co-Director of the
Rural Center of HIV/STD Prevention.
Michael Meit, director of the ETSU Center for Rural Health Research, will speak on “Diseases of
Despair/Building Recovery Ecosystems.” He serves as Senior Fellow in NORC at the University
of Chicago’s Public Health Research Department, as well as Deputy Director for the
ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center. Meit currently leads studies focused on the
evaluation of rural health programs, health equity, opioid misuse and food insecurity,
among others.
In addition, other speaker topics and events include:
“The Art and Science of Thriving,” Nick Hagemeier, PharmD, PhD, ETSU’s vice provost for research, chief research officer, and professor of Pharmacy Practice.
“A Personal Story of Substance Use Disorder and Recovery,” Nancy Hooper, PharmD, manager of recovery and well-being services at TPA.- "Pharmacists and Their Untapped Potential in Substance Use Disorder" and give an update from the Tennessee Pharmacists Association (TPA), Anthony Pudlo, PharmD, Executive Director of the TPA.
- “Pharmacist Champion for MAT: Suboxone and Naloxone,” Charlie Tarasidis, PharmD, Carilion Clinic
- “Volunteer to Save A Life: Naloxone Education and Distribution,” Sarah Thomason, PharmD, BCPP, BCACP, CGP, FASCP, ETSU professor of Pharmacy Practice, and student pharmacists.
In 2022, Ballad Health committed a $470,000 annual gift to the college to create the
Center for Pharmacy Education, Advocacy and Outreach, broadening efforts to equip
pharmacists to transform practice and to work with patient care team members across
inpatient and outpatient settings to improve transitions of care and overall health
outcomes.
Through the new center, ETSU and Ballad Health are working to develop simulation and
laboratory education offerings and collaborating to develop and enhance curricula.
It also will focus on preceptor development and enhancing training experiences for
student pharmacists.
The center will be a catalyst for developing policy recommendations at the local,
regional, state and national level in the areas of addiction and mental health, which
are pressing concerns in rural America.
The idea for the center grew from a series of conversations between Pharmacy leadership
at Ballad Health and Dr. Debbie Byrd, dean of Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy. They
recognized that there were opportunities in the way students are trained and in the
way that ETSU faculty are integrated into the inpatient work environment.
ETSU’s long-time commitment to interprofessional education and team-based care, as
well as ETSU Gatton College of Pharmacy’s award-winning student programs focusing
on naloxone training and community outreach, provide a foundation for the center’s
efforts on preparing pharmacists for the critical role in interprofessional teams
that care for patients with chronic pain, opioid use disorder and mental health disorders.
Tennessee Pharmacists Consortium for Education is accredited by the Accreditation
Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education.
ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy was founded in 2005 by the community with a mission
to develop progressive, team-oriented pharmacists who improve health care, focusing
on rural and underserved communities. The college has earned numerous national awards
and accolades for service, scholastic achievement and clinical training.